Russia says to send more inspectors to check Egypt airport security

Russia is planning to send another team of inspectors to Egypt in the near future, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov announced Wednesday.

“We will come with another inspection soon, we are working on this with the colleagues from Egypt,” Sokolov said speaking on a possible resumption of flights to Egypt.

Moscow and Cairo have been negotiating the resumption of air flights to the country since late 2015. Russia stopped all air flights to Egypt following a terrorist attack on a jet owned by the Kogalymavia air carrier (flight 9268) last October. The Russian A321 passenger jet crashed in Sinai some 30 minutes after takeoff from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh. The plane carried 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists. None survived.

In November 2015, it was announced that the crash had been a terrorist attack carried out by using a homemade explosive device containing one kilogram of TNT. The Russian transport minister said back then that Russia would resume air flights to Egypt only after the country had improved security standards at its airports.

The airport in Cairo would be the first to open for flights from Russia, the minister said last month. Before that, Russia’s specialists should carry out the audit and announce their conclusions on the airport’s safety. In the interview with TASS, Sokolov also said the visit of Russian experts to Egypt in early September would not be final. A delegation of a higher level is also expected to pay a visit.

Source: Tass